2014 Golden Globes: 5 film surprises, snubs

Director Lee Daniels, right, jokes as he and actor Forest Whitaker, left, arrive for the screening of their film "The Butler" at the 39th American Film Festival in Deauville, Normandy, western France on Aug. 31, 2013.

You can always count on the Golden Globes to shake up the awards season. But this year, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association didn’t deliver as many blatant head-scratchers, at least in the movie categories. There were a few obvious omissions.

Here are five of the biggest film surprises and snubs:

1. “Lee Daniels The Butler” not served well: After Wednesday’s strong showing at the Screen Actor’s Guild, the well-acted drama received zip, including no Oprah Winfrey nomination in the supporting category. Winfrey deserved to occupy that slot held by Julia Roberts of “August: Osage County.”

2. “Fruitvale Station” passed up while “Rush” races ahead: Ryan Coogler’s feature-length debut, a powerful character study of Oscar Grant III, was overlooked, dimming its Oscar hopes. Doesn’t seem right. Meanwhile,”Rush,” Ron Howard’s race-car drama, turned out to be one of the biggest surprises, skidding into the drama category and getting a best supporting actor nod for Daniel Bruhl, who also nabbed one from SAG yesterday. Watch this one; it’s gaining speed.

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3. The best actress in a leading role categories: How unexpectedly delightful was it to hear the names Greta Gerwig (so socially awkward in the underrated “Frances Ha”) and Julia Louise-Dreyfus (“Enough Said”) in the comedy/musical category? Too bad, Dreyfus’ co-star, the late James Gandolfini, didn’t receive a nom in supporting. In the best actress drama category, Kate Winslet from “Labor Day,” seemed to come out of nowhere.

4. Where’s Woody?: Two of the actresses in his film — Cate Blanchett and Sally Hawkins — received Globe love, but otherwise Woody Allen and his depressing, “Blue Jasmine,” received the cold shoulder in major categories. Don’t feel too awful for Allen though; he’ll be honored with the Cecil B. DeMille Award. Diane Keaton is slated to accept it for him.

5. The animated film category: Not only did Emeryville-based Pixar’s “Monsters University” fail to scare up an award, but director Hayao Miyazaki’s beautiful swan song “The Wind Rises” was frozen out by the likes of “Frozen,”“The Croods” and “Despicable Me 2? (way to go, Minions!). In a curious development, “The Wind Rises” did snatch up a deserved nomination for best foreign language film. Go figure.